Overseas workers a boon for Northland’s primary produce sector

Northland’s primary industry sector is relishing the arrival of working holiday visa holders to help alleviate prolonged labour shortages but there’s no such luck for the hospitality industry.

The Government this week announced more than 17,000 working holiday visitors out of the 36,000 approved in March were already in New Zealand to provide much-needed labour in industries like tourism, hospitality, agriculture, horticulture.

Immigration Minister Michael Wood said there have been weekly arrivals of more than 1200 since the beginning of November and that monthly arrivals totalled more than 4000.

Maungatapere Blueberries has hired about 20 backpackers in the last couple of months and director Patrick Malley said they were a great mix to have working alongside kiwis.

“It’s refreshing to have working holiday visa holders. They are motivated to work short term and then go and enjoy the country.”

Malley said getting work done was a lot harder when the international borders were closed but they managed to get by.

The backpackers constitute about 20 per cent of his total workforce of more than 100 picking blueberries, blackberries and kiwifruit.

About a dozen backpackers have started working for Kaipara kumara grower Grant Suckling who’s spoilt for choice in terms of who to hire.

“We’ve seen a real lift in backpackers wanting to work over the last one and a half months and it’s like a wave of people of different nationalities coming through. It’s a real ‘pick me’ environment coming out of Covid,” he said.

It’s planting season now until about mid January and then harvesting starts so work is available for working holiday visa holders until winter, he said.

The last two years, he said, had been tough in terms of labour shortage.

“It was as much mental as it was physical and we struggled the whole time and that pressure was a constant among growers because business was essentially down by about 20 per cent,” Suckling said.

But Northland’s hospitality sector hasn’t seen similar benefits from overseas holidaymakers with an open work visa.

Hospitality New Zealand president and owner of Schnappa Rock Restaurant and Bar in Tutukaka, Nick Keene, said the government’s decision on working holiday visas came “too little, too late”.

“Our labour shortage is still fairly chronic and we’ve had no applications from people for seasonal work and we’re seeing restaurants closing when they need to be open.

“We don’t just need part-time, seasonal workers but also getting people from overseas. There are some highly skilled and experienced chefs but they don’t qualify under the Government’s reinvented category,” he said.

Riki Kinnaird, co-owner of the Duke of Marlborough in Russell, is equally disappointed.

“We’re not seeing those working holiday visa holders coming through and it makes you wonder whether the numbers are real. I think the Government has missed the boat,” he said.

Economist Brad Olsen said while Northland would certainly benefit from having overseas workers back in the country over summer, the question was whether we were getting too few people in too late.

“Primary sector employment in Northland is still more than 100 roles behind where it was a year ago due to labour market challenges, and despite hospitality employment being slightly higher than a year ago in Northland, again these levels aren’t as high as employers would like to see if they could find the talent they needed.”

The Immigration Minister said to support Kiwi businesses, the Government has doubled the Working Holiday Scheme caps with a one-off increase to recognise the spots that were unused last year due to border restrictions. Take-up for the new spots has been swift with many schemes filling up only hours after opening, he said.

“The quick and positive response we are getting from visa holders and those who are applying for visas show that people want to come here,” Wood said.